was ready for. I would have liked to have been prepared for that."
"I know and I am so very sorry. I hate the way I handled things, and I hope you'll forgive me?"
"I do, but there's more that needs to be discussed."
"What is it? I've already reached out to my team to try to spin the media and to snag as many of the pictures and videos that we can but, baby, in this day and age there isn't really much I can do to stop the images from getting out there. I wish I could give you more assurance, but I would be lying to you."
"It's the business. You started a new business endeavor that not just involves me, but it means a new job, in a line of work I don't know anything about. It means leaving a place I'm just getting comfortable with and people I'm starting to bond with."
"Olivia..."
"Please let me finish."
"Of course," he says quietly, giving me the floor.
"Ronan, I just leased an apartment based off what EVC was paying me. I hate to even bring this up, but you know that I cannot have you paying for things, and this is a startup business. How do I know I will be able to afford a change like this?"
One corner of his mouth lifts subtly, and I know he thinks I'm silly to worry about money when this isn't something he has to worry about, but it's important to me that I earn my own living. I do my best to disregard his beautiful face and carry on.
"What if we start this, and I don't enjoy it and want out? I don't know that this will be the case but what if it is? I don't want to feel indebted to you and stay on because I feel I owe you. I also don't want to feel kept. I need to know that I am earning what I have on my own. I know you mean well, but I don't need you to take care of me. To go start a new company so we can hold hands when we're out in public. I could have found myself my own job."
"I thought you were happy about Luna. You seemed to be happy when I told you about it. What happened between then and now?"
He has every right to be confused. I was over the moon when he told me his plans, but then the flashing lights of people’s cameras in my face startled me back to reality.
"I was happy, but as the night went on, I had time to think about the reality of the situation. You've planned out my entire life without asking for my input. Even if I hadn't been alone most of my life and have the independence issues I do, it stills seems like it would be common courtesy to have involved me. It is my life, Ronan."
He pushes up from the bed and starts pacing the plush carpet at our feet. His hands are on his hips, and it seems he's trying to work through everything I've said, but he's coming up short. He rubs his hands over his face and tries to collect himself before facing me and taking his turn to speak.
"I don't get it, Olivia. I've told you all along I was working on a plan. A plan that would let us be together and work together. You knew this was happening. Maybe not the details but I never hid the fact that I was working on something like this. So, where is all of this coming from?"
He's right and he's pissed. His voice rises and now he's yelling.
"And you know something...this wasn't just about your life. It's about our life...the potential of the two of us having a life together! For some reason, I thought that was what we both wanted! Was I wrong?"
He's right, again. I have only been thinking of myself and not the fact that this is also his path to freedom from his father. The plan means he can leave EVC behind and live his own life and, apparently, he wants to spend it with me.
I meet him in the center of the room and wrap my arms around his middle. I take in his scent and feel his heart pounding beneath my ear. He's upset and rightly so. His arms don't wrap around me until I say, "You're not wrong. I do like the potential of the two of us having